Grumble...
I am trying to remove a bunch of ivy from the front yard. Before lunch I trimmed it back a lot, so that when I later pulled it up by the roots the resulting mass would be of more manageable size. I recently went back outside and started pulling, only to find a family of yellow jackets were living under where I started working. The first sting I assumed was a fluke -- a yellow jacket had gotten inside my pants leg, and I did not see any others. But a few minutes later I was stung twice more and heard and saw several flying around. I went inside, took a cold shower and antihistimine, and decided to share the news here for no apparent reason.
Now I smell nicer and can go outside again. I have a plastic yellow jacket trap which I'll put where I was working, and will start pulling from the other end of the ivy patch.
UPDATE: Whew. This is slow going! The ivy is ancient enough that every few feet it has a very deep root cluster. I'll need to invest in a digging bar to get rid of the stuff.
